Lifestyle Changes . . . A Little Goes A Long Way

The other night I was watching this program called “Fat & Fatter.” Don’t judge me, all right? LOL. Routinely tuning into shows like that help kill my appetite more effectively than any over or under the counter diet suppressant. Anyway, one of the obese women being profiled had what looked like a serious salt addiction. A CARTON of salt (not a shaker, a whole dang carton) was typically right next to her plate whenever she sat down to eat. While dining at one of those “all you can eat” buffets she picked up a nice, healthy plate of fruit and started showering it with salt. When someone asked her why, especially given her health issues, high blood pressure among them, her response was a simple, “’Cause it tastes good.”

Watching her cover her food with all of that salt, typically without even tasting the food first, truly grossed me out. But the truth is, I was once in the habit of “salting” certain foods without giving it a second thought. As a kid, before eating so much as a forkful of watermelon, I salted that bad boy. After all, that’s what everyone did, right? At the time, that was all I knew. It’s what I’d been taught.

Bad habits are hard to break—especially those we give so little thought to that they almost become second nature, like blinking or breathing I was grown and on my own before I realized that watermelon tastes great (better even) without salt. Once upon a time (not all that long ago), I would have automatically seasoned the omelet I prepared this morning with salt and pepper. But since I’m being more mindful about my health these days, I bypassed the salt altogether and just used a few dashes of pepper. And you know what? The omelet was so good, I didn’t even miss the salt. Now, when it comes to popcorn, I still have a long, long way to go . . . ;-)